1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to engine maintenance equipment and more particularly to a motorized system for draining and refilling crankcase oil and maintaining the oil at operating levels for use as a permanent installation in twin engine boats and, in simplified form, in automobiles and trucks, and having safety lock capability for the controls.
2. Prior Art
Changing the oil in boats having inboard engines presents difficulty because of tight quarters and the inaccessibility of the oil drains often requiring boat owners to employ high cost maintenance personnel having special equipment to change the oil. While electric motor driven pumps powered by storage batteries and adapted to accomplish a wide variety of jobs are well known in the art, there is a present need for a simple, practical and efficient device, not presently available, to alleviate boat owners of the messy, tedious and often expensive chore of changing oil and maintaining proper oil levels between oil changes.
Various devices have been suggested for aiding the automobile and truck owner in oil changing including dashboard mounted controls for operating special drain plug valves to obviate getting beneath the vehicle to remove the drain plug and various pump arrangements used in connection with such valves for removing the oil. However, there appears to be a need for a simple battery powered motor driven pump having all the controls including a safety lock in a self-contained. unit which will be easy to install under the hood as a permanent accessory to enable the individual owner to effectively and efficiently handle the old and the new oil.
In my patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,523) there is described and claimed a system for changing the oil in the crankcases of boats having two or more engines. It is also required that the transmission oil be changed from time to time. There are no motorized systems available in the market today to accomplish the draining and refilling of both crankcase oil and transmission oil, as well as supplying oil to other mechanisms, such as a generator.
It is an object of this invention to provide a motorized system for draining and refilling oil lubrication vessels on a plurality of engines that can be controlled from one central location. It is another object of this invention to provide a system for use on boats having twin engines, the system providing means for draining and refilling oil reservoirs in engines and other mechanisms by operating controls at a central convenient location. Still other objects will be apparent from the more detailed description which follows.